Mets surge to early lead, hold on for 9-5 victory over Washington Nationals

Chuck Myers/MCTJason Bay, shown hitting an RBI double against the Nationals Saturday, drove in four runs in the 9-5 victory Sunday.

WASHINGTON – The rout was on by the fourth inning, as the eighth Mets runner flowed across the plate and Washington Nationals starter Craig Stammen ducked into the home dugout. The rout was gone by the ninth inning, as the Mets bullpen acquiesced enough runs and waded into enough danger to force Francisco Rodriguez into a save situation.

Here before 29,234 fans at Nationals Park on Independence Day, the Mets victory morphed from picnic to nail-biter to a 9-5 win the team will gladly accept. Outfielder Jason Bay drove in four runs. Hisanori Takahashi (7-3, 4.32 ERA) strung together five decent innings before surrendering a three-run bomb. Reliever Elmer Dessens managed to smother a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.

So the Mets (46-36) split this four-game set and posted a 3-4 mark overall for the road trip. Along the way, alarm bells sounded about the bullpen’s stability. The team weathered the disappointment of three walk-off losses.

“The resilience of this baseball club is amazing,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said after Rodriguez melted down the day before. “I would be surprised if we don’t come out and the ball game tomorrow.”

In the first inning, Bay started the scoring with a two-run triple. Angel Pagan added an RBI single the next inning and Ike Davis hit his 10th homer of the season, a two-run shot, in the third.

The Mets chased Stammen (2-3, 5.73 ERA) in the fourth. Bay singled in two more runs. Jeff Francoeur doubled him home. The lead was eight. The game was a breeze.

Then there was a bump in the road. After a pair of poor starts, Takahashi rediscovered, at least temporarily, the delicate balance of inside fastballs and dipping breaking pitches that he requires in order to be successful. He matched a career-high with seven strikeouts.

But to open the sixth, Takahashi allowed put two runners on base for Ryan Zimmerman – and then threw a 2-0 fastball down the middle. Zimmerman’s drive cleared the right-field fence.

After another single, Takahashi departed. Elmer Dessens provided no immediate relief. His first opposing batter singled. He hit the second with a pitch. But he managed to strike out pinch-hitter Adam Kennedy to secure a little breathing room. When catcher Wil Nieves grounded into a double play, Dessens had vanquished the Nationals’ best threat to wreck this once-leisurely afternoon.

Still, the relief corps gave up runs in the seventh and eighth. Rodriguez arrived on the scene with two on and none out in the ninth. He went 1-2-3 to bound out of town on a positive note.